ARE  YOU  DREAMING  BIG  ENOUGH?  ADVISOR  INSTRUCTIONS  

 

This  program  will  give  teens  the  opportunity  to  do  a  self-­‐evaluation  of  whether  or  not  the  things  they  dream  about  and  the  goals  they  set  for  themselves  are  as  good  as  they  can  get,  or  if  they  can  do  better.  

Advisors  should  familiarize  themselves  with  the  attached  shiur,  The  Five  Levels  of  Pleasure  by  Rabbi  Noach  Weinberg  and  be  prepared  to  integrate  an  abbreviated  version  of  the  shiur  into  the  program  so  that  the  teens  are  able  to  absorb  and  understand  the  main  points  and  lessons  through  being  part  of  the  interactive  program.  

What  To  Do  Advisors  will  begin  by  facilitating  “happy  cards”  being  given  out  to  groups.  Each  card  has  a  different  pleasure  written  on  them  (e.g.  food,  money,  feeling  like  my  friends  love  me,  accomplishing  my  life's  mission,  connecting  to  the  infinite,  etc.)  

Advisors  then  ask  each  group  to  rank  the  cards  in  order  of  what  they  think  is  most  important.  

Then,  with  the  rankings  in  place  so  everyone  in  the  group  can  see,  the  advisor  teaches  what  pleasure  really  is,  and  goes  through  each  of  the  5  different  "levels"  of  pleasure  (see  next  page  below).  

After  each  "level,"  the  group  can  have  a  short  discussion  and  see  if  they  want  to  change  their  rankings  at  all  and  then  do  a  final  ranking  at  the  end.  (If  the  advisor  feels  the  session  will  flow  better,  one  ranking  before  starting  and  one  final  ranking  at  the  end  will  suffice.)  

 

Main  Points  For  Discussion  

 • Just  as  every  parent  wants  their  children  to  be  happy,  G-­‐d  wants  us  to  be  happy.  But  real  happiness  

only  comes  through  accomplishment  –  not  from  relaxing  all  day  doing  nothing.  

• Life’s  pleasures  can  be  divided  into  5  categories;  no  amount  of  a  pleasure  from  a  lower  class  can  come  close  to  being  exchanged  for  even  the  smallest  amount  of  a  higher  class  of  pleasure.  

• Beware  of  counterfeit  pleasures  -­‐  they  distract  you  from  better  things  by  getting  you  into  things  that  are  only  temporarily  enjoyable,  but  don’t  give  you  lasting  happiness.  

• The  opposite  of  pain  is  not  pleasure  –  it’s  comfort.  Comfort  feels  good  but  does  not  give  you  real  happiness.  Pain  is  the  price  you  pay  for  pleasure.  Pain  is  also  known  as  effort.  The  greater  the  effort,  the  greater  the  pleasure.  

o One  must  keep  focused  on  the  pleasure  they’re  pursuing.  If  they  focus  on  the  pain/effort  needed  to  get  the  pleasure,  they’ll  just  feel  the  pain.  If  they  focus  on  the  pleasure  and  the  goal  only,  whatever  pain  there  is  they  probably  won’t  even  notice.  

The  Five  Levels  of  Pleasure  Summarized  

 • 5th  Class  Pleasure  -­‐  Anything  physical,  aka  money,  food,  cars,  opposite  gender,  etc.  

o Counterfeit  5th  class  is  improper  or  over  indulgence  of  the  physical  

o Note  that  this  IS  A  PLEASURE  TO  BE  ENJOYED.  Judaism  believes  in  enjoying  pleasure  -­‐  just  not  in  overdoing  the  lower  pleasures  at  the  expense  of  something  better.    

• 4th  Class  Pleasure  -­‐  Love  

o Someone  would  give  up  all  their  physical  pleasures  for  real  love  

o Counterfeit  4th  Class  is  infatuation;  Love  VS  Infatuation    

• 3rd  Class  Pleasure  -­‐  A  Cause;  A  mission  in  life  

o Someone  would  give  up  their  loved  ones  for  a  cause  they  truly  believe  in  

o People  would  easily  give  up  all  of  their  physical  pleasures  for  their  cause  

o Counterfeit  is  looking  good  instead  of  actually  being  good    

• 2nd  Class  Pleasure  –  Creativity  

o Seeing  your  mark  left  on  the  world;  when  YOU  change  the  world  

o Making  your  own  organization  to  save  the  trees  rather  than  just  volunteering  

o Counterfeit  is  power  and  controlling  people.    

• 1st  Class  Pleasure  -­‐  An  encounter  with  G-­‐d  

o G-­‐d  is  the  infinite  source  of  pleasure;  a  transcendental  experience  

o Counterfeit  first  class  pleasure  is  drugs  and  mind  altering  substances  

 

   

 FOOD

 MONEY

 SPORTS

CARS

 HOOKING

UP

 A MASSAGE

 DESIGNER CLOTHING

HIGH PAYING

JOB

 FEELING LOVED

 MAKING

A DIFFERENCE

 FRIENDS

 A BIG

HOUSE

 A YACHT

 HAVING PEOPLE

WHO CARE ABOUT YOU

GIVING

YOUR MONEY

AWAY TO THOSE

WHO NEED IT

MORE

THAN YOU GETTING A

MEANINGFUL

BUT CHEAP GIFT

FROM A FRIEND

GETTING AN

EXPENSIVE BUT

MEANINGLESS

FROM A FRIEND

 

VOLUNTEERING FOR YOUR

FAVORITE CAUSE

 DONATING 5% OF

YOUR MONEY TO A CAUSE

 DONATING 20% OF YOUR MONEY TO A

CAUSE

LIVING IN A TENT FOR

A WEEK WITH NO A/C

OR RUNNING WATER

TO HELP DISASTER

VICTIMS RECOVER

AND GET BACK TO

NORMAL

 

HAVING ANY KIND OF

FOOD YOU WANT, ANY

TIME YOU WANT,

ALWAYS WITH GOOD

LOOKING SERVANTS

TO BRING IT TO YOU

CREATING AN

ORGANIZATION THAT

WORKS TOWARD

YOUR FAVORITE

CAUSE

CONNECTING TO

A HIGHER POWER

 INFINITE

PLEASURE

 TALKING TO G-D

DESIGNING A BUILDING

THAT WILL BE THE

MAIN PART OF THE NEW

YORK SKYLINE, EVEN

THOUGH IT WILL MEAN

MONTHS OF STRESS

AND LITTLE SLEEP

A REAL

SPIRITUAL MOMENT

 EXERCISE

 MUSIC

 

COMPLETING A COMPLICATED

PROJECT